He thought about what he had done before, feeling the way the cold had fluttered through him. It was a part of him, and he could use that. He had to use that.
As he focused, he could feel that cold working its way through him.
He breathed it in and then pushed it out through the dragon pearl.
Once again, cold began to work its way along the bars of the cage, and he continued to push, sending as much power as he could through it, more and more working its way out from him, through the dragon pearl, and into the bars blocking the dragon.
Ice began to form beneath his hand, and it spread all along the cell. Without the fear of someone approaching, he was able to push even more power through it than he had before.
Then he could feel heat radiating from the dragon again.
Jason stepped back, knowing what the dragon wanted from him.
Heat exploded. The dragon’s body began to glow orange, almost like molten metal.
As he looked at the dragon, he realized that was exactly what it was. That was why he had thought it so strange before.
It wasn’t so much that the dragon was glowing with a bright orange flame as it was heating up like metal.
Like iron.
His breath caught as he thought he understood.
Much like the ice dragon had taken on characteristics of his village, the iron dragon had taken on aspects of this place.
How many others would the Dragon Souls have placed? How many other dragons would there be like this?
Hatch mates. That was what the ice dragon was after. Others like him.
Family first.
Jason let out a shaky breath.
It seemed impossible to believe that the dragon would be made of iron, and yet, how would that be any different than the dragon made of ice?
The bars exploded.
He raised his arm, covering his face, but the shards parted around him. Some of them were hot, and they sizzled, hissing in the air as they passed him.
When they were gone, he looked over to see the dragon poking its head through the bars. The hole was almost large enough for his body to come through.
“Again,” the dragon demanded.
Jason nodded, and he approached another section of the cell.
As he began to focus on the cold, he wondered if he was going to be strong enough. Having pulled enough power through himself like this, it was possible he’d already expended himself far more than he could withstand. He had no idea what limitations he might possess when it came to using this power. It might be he had no real limits, but it might be that he had significant restrictions that would prevent him from being able to draw upon as much power as he wanted.
As he felt the cold working through him, as that power was flowing, Jason continued to pull upon it, drawing it through him, and he let it out. The bars turned to ice, no different than they had before.
Heat radiated from the dragon’s side as it stepped forward. It pressed its body up against the cell, and as before, those bars shattered, exploding outward with a violent force.
When the dust and haze cleared, he looked around. The dragon was able to fold his wings in and make his way out, squeezing between the bars of the cell, and he stepped out toward Jason.
With a loud roar, flames erupted from the dragon. The entire body of the creature glowed. It seemed as if his body flowed, like metal shifting.
It was quite beautiful.
“Come on. We need to get you out of here.”
He wondered if the dragon would let him lead, and yet, if he didn’t, Jason wasn’t sure that he would be able to help as much as he wanted to.
The dragon stepped off to the side and Jason hurried to the door. He held on to the dragon pearl, though fatigue began to work through him. If it came down to it, he would use whatever power he could, but it might be up to the molten dragon to handle things on his behalf.
The hallway was empty. It was narrow, and he hadn’t considered that before, but how would the dragon be able to get out of there?
Jason needn’t have worried. The dragon folded his wings in and slithered along the hall behind him, moving almost like a snake. The entire time he did, his body glowed. It was difficult for Jason to even look at, and he had to hurry to stay ahead of the heat radiating off the dragon.
When he’d come through here before, it had been darkened and he’d had only the dragon pearl for light, but this time, he was working through here with the light of the dragon guiding him, and he moved far more rapidly than he had before.
The dragon rumbled.
It reminded Jason of what he had tracked, the sounds that had brought him here.
There were shapes in the distance.
The dragon pressed his face up to Jason. He could feel heat radiating from his nostrils, steam that burned, hot through his bearskin coat. His face felt painfully sharp. “Move over.”
Jason jerked himself off to the side, getting away from the dragon. He pressed against the wall and heat exploded.
Flames scorched along the hallway, illuminating everything in front of him. Briefly Jason could make out figures along the hallway, but then that moment passed and whatever figures were there disappeared, burned in a cloud of ash.
He shivered.
He ran forward, racing toward the end of the hallway. The dragon slithered behind him, the sound of it strange, a squealing, and it mixed with a steady hissing.
By the time he reached the entrance to the cave, Jason was exhausted.
He peeked his head outside, worried that he might encounter someone he had wanted to avoid, and yet the night was calm. It was dark. A hint of a cool wind gusted, welcome relief after the heat inside the cave radiating off the dragon.
The dragon pushed behind him, and Jason staggered out into the opening.
When he did, the dragon followed, slithering behind him.
And then light exploded all around them.
9
Jason shielded his eyes. Within the cave, the light had been behind him, allowing him to better make out what was in the distance, and his eyes hadn’t fully adjusted to the brightness. With the overwhelming light all around him, he struggled.
For a moment, he thought it came from lantern light, but the longer he stared, the more certain he was that wasn’t it at all.
Dragon Souls.
That had to be the source of the light, and as Jason looked around, he could practically feel the power radiating off the Dragon Souls. They were near him, and he steadied his breathing, worried they might attack, but there was no sign of an attack.
“What is this?” the dragon rumbled.
“I don’t know.”
Heat exploded from the dragon.
As it did, Jason counted five dark-cloaked figures surrounding them. They had taken up positions all around them, and each of them carried a dragon pearl. How many had something more than just a dragon pearl?
It was possible the Dragon Souls were prepared to try to control the dragon. Wasn’t that what they did? When he’d been working with Henry, he had understood the Dragon Souls used their power and their magic in order to dominate the dragon, and Jason was determined to try to prevent that, and yet, he wasn’t sure he would be able to do so.
He glanced back at the dragon. It was hard to tell whether the creature was fighting or not, or whether there was anything else taking place, but the glowing of his scales continued.
“You’re going to have to fight,” he said to the dragon.
The heat continued to build, radiating off the creature, and flames erupted from his nostrils. He spread them around the clearing, and when they burned off, the figures remained standing.
Dragonskin.